Star-crossed Tennis Players
by Flying Kingfisher
Summary: She thought her story was simple – her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. Then, a gorgeous plot-twisting bluenette comes along and her story is about to be completely rewritten. AU, with Fem!Ryoma and others. Major character death later on. Parings: YukiRyo, with slight YuuGaku. REWRITTEN! Previous 4 chapters have been combined for the new chapter 1.


The Fault In Our Stars: Pot Version

**Summary**: She thought her story was simple – her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. Then, a gorgeous plot-twisting bluenette comes along and her story is about to be completely rewritten. AU, with Fem! Ryoma and others. Major character death later on. Sensual, Dirty, Perfect and others.

**Warnings**: AU, gender bending (a LOT of it), age differences, OOC-ness

**Disclaimer**:

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

* * *

So after a few months, I finally had a look at this story and realized what crap it was. So, I rewrote the original four chapters and combined them into one. Fingers crossed that this is better.

- This story will have the characters in an AU following the plot of John Green's _The Fault In Our Stars_, aka the most epic love story since Romeo and Juliet. It isn't a crossover as there are no characters from TFIOS appearing. You don't need any knowledge of TFIOS to read this story. If you have read it, you will see snippets of John Green's work appearing here and there. Anything you recognize does not belong to me.

- There will be gender bending, as the summary says. I'll try not to change any of the characters' names but sometimes, I have to. For age differences, all you have to know is that the teenagers are around 16-17.

- For the families in this story, they will not share the same last name. E.g. Tezuka, Fuji and Ryoma are in one family but they still retain their surnames. Yeah, it's weird but I want it that way.

- The rating is T for some swear words here and there and some scenes in later chapters.

- I am going to respond to reviews from now on. Reviews, please?

- If you do see any mistakes, please do tell me so I can correct them.

So let's kick start this love story!

* * *

Echizen Ryoma was sixteen years old and obsessed with Ponta. She had a Himalayan cat named Karupin. She loved playing tennis and wearing white Fila caps.

She was also a survivor of stage IV thyroid cancer.

The giant tumors in her lungs forced her to be helplessly dependent on Phalanxifor, a drug that stopped tumor growth. It didn't work in 70% of people, but she was one of the luckier ones. In this case, being lucky meant having to swallow a dozen different types of medicine a day and having two tubes in her nose attached to a portable tank of oxygen.

Ryoma had learned to live with her crappy lungs and life, as sucky as it was, had gone on quite okay. She went to school, kept in touch with her friends and had regular checkups.

When she turned sixteen, her mother Fuji Shusuke suddenly became aware of the fact that her daughter was Depressed with a capital D. Ryoma often locked herself in her room, reading the same book over and over again, not talking to anyone but Karupin and devoting quite a bit of her time to thinking about death, the afterlife and whether or not there was tennis in hell.

Shusuke talked with the doctor who agreed that Ryoma was depressed (despite the strong protests of "Yadda") and therefore, her medicine should be adjusted and she should socialize more by going to a weekly Support Group for Cancer Kids who Play Tennis. Ryoma had perked up at the last word but generally hated the idea of a support group.

After a lengthy conversation, Ryoma finally reluctantly agreed to Support Group. Her mother was pleased that she would "finally be having a social life." Ryoma didn't see how going to Support Group was "having a social life", but she did it for the same reason she did almost everything else in her life – she wanted to please her parents.

Yes, Echizen Ryoma was arrogant, cocky and somewhat antisocial, but inside her, she loved her parents and she knew the only worse than dying at 16 was watching your child die at sixteen.

Also, in her heart, she was clearer than everyone else about something – depression was not a side effect of cancer. All the cancer books list it as one of the side effects but no, it wasn't. Depression was a side effect of dying. Almost everything was a side effect of dying, actually. No one could do anything to prevent her death – they could only delay it and buy her a bit more time.

* * *

Every week, Fuji dropped her off for Support Group where six or seven teenagers walked in (or wheeled in, for some). They had almost nothing in common, except for having gone through the torture of cancer and cancer treatment.

An old woman who went by the name of Ryuzaki Sumire led the Group. She was a survivor of cancer herself and her job was mainly to encourage the kids and coach their tennis. Ryoma soon found out the hard way that Ryuzaki-sensei was not to be messed with.

One thing that she did like about her though, was that Ryuzaki-sensei never looked down on anyone of them because of their disabilities.

Lately, she'd found a friend. His name was Oshitari Yuushi and he was the only one who was really good at tennis, beside her.

Oshitari was a long-time sufferer of eye cancer. One of his eyes had been cut out and now the remaining one was in grave danger, according to his doctor.

The two of them communicated almost exclusively through sighs. Sometimes, when someone mentioned a cliché story that had been told millions of times before, Oshitari would glance at Ryoma and give the tiniest of sighs. She, in turn would respond by exhaling microscopically.

* * *

They were good friends but nothing romantic ever came out of it. He even had a girlfriend – a bouncy, energetic redhead named Mukahi Gakumi. Ryoma knew little about her, except that Oshitari – a sucker for romance novels - was deeply in love with her.

Every Sunday, the unlucky twelve to eighteen year olds entered and Support Group would commence. Ryuzaki-sensei would then start by telling everyone her cancer story, and then each teenager would introduce himself or herself. Name. Age. Diagnosis.

"Echizen Ryoma," she would say when it was her turn. "Sixteen this year. I've got lung cancer. So far, I'm doing okay."

After this, they would talk about recent problems and struggles, friends who had passed away, depression etc. Ryuzaki-sensei did allow them to talk about death and afterlife, though these topics were generally avoided.

This sharing session was followed by a session of tennis. It was nothing too strenuous and the kids who didn't feel like it could sit out and just watch.

Ryoma was glad for the opportunity to stretch her limbs but she hated the rule about "Nothing too intense, in case something happens."

She usually played against some ball machines because she couldn't run too much, but sometimes, she would play against Oshitari on a half-court. The reason? She couldn't really run far and he was half-blind so they played within a much smaller space.

When Oshitari wasn't around, she played two-on-one against two others. It didn't matter who they were – she usually beat them within 15 minutes.

That was why Ryoma found the Support Group for Cancer Kids who Play Tennis as depressing as hell.

* * *

One particular Sunday, she just felt like dying. Her shit lungs had nearly given out and for some reason, she just didn't feel like going to Support Group. She did go however, and it was lucky that she did, for that was the day she had met the life-changing miracle, Yukimura Seiichi.

Her mother had dropped her off early so she wandered around for a while, getting a Ponta from the vending machine. She walked in lazily, spinning her oxygen cart in circles. Then, she noticed something.

A boy was staring at her.

If it were an _average-looking _boy who was staring at her, it could result in two scenarios: (A) awkward silence or (B) sexual harassment. But this boy was just… Wow.

Navy blue hair complimented his cerulean eyes perfectly. He dwarfed the small plastic chair he was sitting in, his posture aggressively poor. He wore an angelic smile on his picture-perfect face.

_He sure seems happy, _Ryoma thought to herself. Five minutes later, she realized he was still staring at her and was getting frustrated. Finally, she decided to stare back at him. After all, boys did not have a monopoly on the staring business.

The other kids filed in slowly (she noticed Oshitari's unmistakable blue hair out of the corner of her eye) and they were still staring at each other. It was becoming tiresome. At last, the boy looked away and they broke eye contact.

_Mada mada dane, _thought Ryoma to herself. She raised her left eyebrow at the boy, flaunting her victory. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, which only made him look hotter, in Ryoma's opinion.

Ryuzaki-sensei entered, introduced herself to the newcomers and then addressed Oshitari. "Oshitari-kun, maybe you'd like to go first today. I know you're facing a tough time."

"Ok then," he said in that sexy voice of his, slowly getting to his feet. "My name is Oshitari Yuushi. I've got eye cancer. And not that I'm complaining or anything, but my remaining eye is going to be cut out sometime soon."

He took a deep breath, and then continued. "My girlfriend helps, though. And so do friends like Yukimura-kun." He gestured towards the bluenette, who now had a name. "And that's about it," he ended, sitting down quickly.

"We're with you, Oshitari-kun," said Ryuzaki-sensei. And as if on cue, everyone repeated in a monotone, "We're with you, Oshitari."

There were five others in the circle before they reached Yukimura.

"My name is Yukimura Seiichi and I'm seventeen. I had a touch of osteoporosis last year, but I'm fine now. I'm here today at Yuushi's request." Ryoma noticed his right leg's movements and concluded it was a prosthetic.

It was soon her turn. "I'm Echizen Ryoma, sixteen years old. Tumors in my lungs. I'm okay."

After that, they talked together about friends who had been lost, pain and struggles and other things. Ryoma didn't speak again until Ryuzaki-sensei spoke to Yukimura. "Yukimura-kun, maybe you'd like to share your fears with the group."

"I fear oblivion," he said without hesitation. "I fear oblivion like the provable blind man fears the dark."

"Spoken too soon," Oshitari grinned from his corner of the room.

"Sorry, was that too cruel?" Yukimura-kun asked his friend, smiling in a way that Ryoma thought of as eerie. "Sometimes I can be really blind to the feelings of others."

Oshitari cracked up in his chair, but then Ryuzaki-sensei waved a finger disapprovingly. "Yukimura-kun, back to you please."

"Okay. So as I was saying, I fear oblivion. How can you just accept that you're going to die one day, just like that, without leaving anything behind? I want to make a mark, I want to show the world that I meant something."

The room was quiet for a while. "Would anyone like to speak to that?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked.

Ryoma had always been pretty antisocial. She wasn't the type to answer questions in class. So, she surprised everyone, including herself, when she raised her hand.

"Echizen!" Ryuzaki-sensei was pleased. She probably thought Ryoma was finally opening up. Becoming part of the Group.

Ryoma looked at Yukimura again, her golden orbs piercing him. "There will come a time," she began, "when all humans are gone. It doesn't matter whatever you did, whatever you accomplished, it will all be forgotten by then. For even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive the destruction of our kind. So if you really fear oblivion, I encourage you to ignore it."

The room was quiet once again. Ryoma took a long sip of Ponta to rehydrate herself. Then, she watched as Yukimura's face lit up in a smile. Not the I'm-so-beautiful-you're-hypnotized-by-me smile, but an actual genuine smile. "God, aren't you something," he whispered in amazement.

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma remarked, pulling the brim of her cap down and taking a sip of Ponta.

* * *

After a bit more discussion, encouragement and other Support Group crap (at least in Ryoma's opinion), the kids all grabbed their racquets and walked outside together towards the courts. Ryoma had just finished warming-up when she saw Yukimura walking over to her.

"Echizen, please do me the honor of having a match with you."

Ryoma accepted the offer at once, eager to see how good he was. They did some light warm-ups before starting the actual match. Ryuzaki-sensei came over to keep an eye on both of them.

The first thing Ryoma noticed was that he wasn't playing seriously. He had the stance of a professional player, yet his moves were predictable and he was letting her shots get past him.

"Game and match, Echizen! Six games to two!" The score was announced and both players shook hands and left. Secretly, Ryoma was mad that he didn't play seriously. Was he mocking her?

Ryoma noticed Oshitari coming over. He congratulated Ryoma on her victory before passing Yukimura a romance novel, saying, "It's not as cliché as the last one. You might like it." His friend nodded his thanks and watched as Oshitari disappeared out of sight.

Ryoma turned to him. "Yukimura, why weren't you playing me seriously? Out of pity?" She gestured towards her oxygen tank. "Mada mada dane."

The look in his eyes changed. Clearly, he did not expect her to notice. "If I was playing at my real strength, you would have been defeated within mere minutes. Ryuzaki-sensei would probably consider it 'too dangerous'."

Ryoma's interest was sparked. It would be interesting to try out his skills.

"Why were you staring at me just now then, ne?" She asked him coldly, her golden eyes gleaming.

He beamed at her again. "Because you're beautiful, and I decided a while ago to let myself enjoy the simpler pleasures of life, such as looking at beautiful people."

Ryoma could feel her cheeks heating up and turning red. She looked away because she hadn't blushed for the last ten years of her life, especially not in front of a boy.

"I've got to go," she mumbled, grateful for an excuse to get away from him. She felt really uneasy.

She turned and walked quickly – her lungs didn't allow running too far – towards Fuji's car like a refugee seeking shelter. Only there could she escape his smile.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist firmly. She found herself staring into a pair of navy blue orbs again. "I'm sorry about our match just now. Would you like to come to my house to have another match? I'll play seriously."

"I don't even know you. You could be an axe murderer," she replied smirking.

"Or I could be a really good tennis player," he offered.

She sighed and tapped on her mother's car window, which rolled down to reveal a smiling brunette. "Mom, I'm being kidnapped by Yukimura Seiichi to go play a tennis match."

Fuji smiled. "My, my, kids these days…"

"Mom!"

Yukimura stepped in at the right time. "Don't worry ma'am. I'll take care of Ryo-chan and bring her home before ten." The driver grinned sadistically and the car sped off.

Ryoma turned to him. "Since when was I 'Ryo-chan' to you?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it and I think 'Ryo-chan' is a pretty cute nickname for a cute girl like you, isn't it?" Yukimura smiled at her again. _(Hint: Imagine looking at the sun directly. Then multiply the light by a thousand. You still won't get how bright his smile was.)_

She sighed. "Mada mada dane. Let's get to your place."

They walked towards the car park, with him leading the way. On the way, they caught sight of Oshitari and his girlfriend.

He had pressed her against a pillar, his fingers pressed against her breasts. Ryoma could hear him saying, "Always" to her and she replied, "Always", before kissing him violently.

Ryoma was somewhat grossed out by the PDA, but she decided to forgive Oshitari because he was going blind. The senses must feast on whatever they can, while they still can, etc.

"I think he's hurting her boob," she remarked.

"Yes, it is difficult to ascertain whether he is trying to arouse her interest or perform a breast examination." Yukimura glanced at the couple.

Ryoma laughed. Yukimura stared at her. She stopped laughing.

They stood there for a while, just staring at the two before Yukimura grabbed her wrist. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

As it turned out, Yukimura Seiichi drove horrifically. They sat in a jagged silence for a while, before he commented, "I failed the driving test three times."

"You don't say." Ryoma felt herself thrust against the car door as he swerved, narrowly missing a lamppost.

"Yeah, well, I can't feel any pressure in Prosthetic-san and I just can't get the hang of using my left foot. The instructor said most amputees could drive without problem but me, yea…" Yukimura sighed.

"On my fourth test, the instructor passed me. He said something like, 'well, your driving isn't safe, but technically it's not very dangerous'."

"I think it's a Cancer Perk," replied Ryoma. Cancer Perks were things that only cancer kids got because other people just felt sorry for them. Like free cases of Ponta and unearned driving licenses.

He was silent for a while, before nodding. Ryoma couldn't help but think how nice he looked, with his blue hair bobbing up and down.

"You know, they have hand controls for people who can't use their feet." Ryoma remarked.

"Yeah. Maybe someday." He was quiet for a while, like he was unsure if he would live to see that 'someday'. But then, he shouldn't have worried. There was a relatively high survival rate for bone cancer.

Yukimura picked up the conversation again. "So, tell me what happened to you."

"I was diagnosed at thirteen years old with stage IV thyroid cancer. It was originally in my brain, then it spread to my lungs." Ryoma spoke monotonously. She'd said this to many people before – doctors, distant relatives, psychologists. One detail she left out was that she was diagnosed three months after she got her period. It was like saying, _Congratulations! You're a woman. Now go die._

Ryoma caught Yukimura looking at her and realized that he was waiting expectantly for her to continue.

"They tried a lot of stuff. Chemotherapy, radiation, drugs, more radiation. I didn't get any better. One day, I was in the ICU with pneumonia. I had loads of painkillers and other drugs flowing into me through a PICC tube. Then everyone thought I was going to die."

"Except you didn't," he finished.

"Except I didn't. Yea, so after the Miracle, as they called it, the antibiotics I was given for the pneumonia kicked in and the fluid in my lungs was drained." She concluded dramatically.

"And here, I am, with lungs that suck at being lungs, but they can still function as lungs and struggle along daily with drugs and oxygen tubes. That's Echizen Ryoma for you, Yukimura."

"I love the sound of your voice," he said suddenly, in a seductive manner. "Especially when you say my name."

She blushed again. _Ignore him, _she told herself, _ignore him._

The car pulled up to his house and he helped her out of the car. As soon as she entered the house, she saw inspirational words and phrases hung all over the place. _Without pain, how could we know Joy?_ was stitched on a pillow and _Home is where the Heart is_ was hung up high.

* * *

Yukimura caught her reading them. "My parents call them Encouragements," he explained. "They're everywhere."

Inside the kitchen, a redhead chewing bubblegum was talking to a dark-skinned bald man.

"Yo," said the lady to Yukimura. "I see you've brought a friend over. Nice."

Ryoma was nervous and pulled her cap down even further. Did he always bring a girl over on Sunday nights? Was that why they were not surprised?

Yukimura grinned. "Dad, mom, this is Echizen Ryoma. Ryo-chan, these are my parents."

"Please don't call me Ryo-chan," she replied, visibly irritated now, which made him pleased because she looked _oh-so cute_ when she was irritated.

"Nice to meet you, Echizen. I'm Jackal Kuwahara and this is my wife, Marui Bunta." The bald man bowed slightly.

"Nice to meet you too, Jackal-san, Marui-san. Yukimura-kun invited me over for a match. I hope you don't mind me intruding." When she wanted to, Ryoma could be really polite. It's just that she didn't feel like it half the time.

"Relax kid. It's perfectly fine. Besides, you should really stay for dinner. Try some of my genius cooking!" Bunta popped her gum.

"Thanks. I have to tell my parents I'll be here though. My curfew is ten. Also, I don't, umm, eat meat?" Ryoma was hesitant about staying for dinner. She'd have to deal with that too-bright smile on her back. But a meal at someone else's house was always interesting.

"No problem. We'll make it vegetarian." Jackal reassured her.

"Is it because animals are just too cute?" asked Yukimura.

"I just want to minimize the number of deaths that I'm responsible for."

There was an awkward silence. Bunta quickly filled it in. "Well, I think that's fantastic."

Then they talked about how the food was absolutely delicious, with dishes from Jackal's native country (Ryoma learned that it was Brazil) and how they agreed with her parents and Yukimura's curfew was also ten. Throughout the whole thing, they didn't mention her disease or her oxygen tank, which was both weird and wonderful.

Finally, Yukimura spoke up, "Ryo-chan and I are going to play tennis at the courts." An indignant "I AM NOT RYO-CHAN!" was heard.

"Sure. Here's the key," said Jackal, taking the said object from a hook on the wall and tossing it at his son, who caught it perfectly.

"Let's go," he said to Ryoma, offering her his arm. She accepted, taking this opportunity to get revenge by digging her nails into his arm.

As soon as they reached the tennis courts (which she was quite impressed with), she let go of his arm so he could unlock the door. She walked in and sat down on the benches while he nursed his arm.

"Impressive. How did you grow them so sharp?" he winked at her flirtatiously.

"Shut up and let's play," she said, getting her racquets out. "No holding back now."

He smiled and went to fetch his racquet. "I'll let you have the first serve," he called out.

This would be an interesting game. Her golden orbs flashed under her cap.

_Come on; show me what you've got._

Ryoma did an underhand serve, spinning the ball before she hit it. She'd learnt the disappearing serve from her mother and it was one of her specialties now.

"A ball does not simply disappear," stated Yukimura from the other side of the court. He returned it effortlessly.

She tried another serve – her signature twist serve. He returned it again.

_What's happening?_

None of them were keeping score, but they both knew it was four games to love, in Yukimura's favor.

Ryoma was panicking. She couldn't see the ball; she couldn't feel the racquet in her hands. She was going to lose this match.

Suddenly, she felt a sense of adrenaline rushing through her. "Tennis… is fun!" she declared to no one in particular. That was all she could remember before her mind went blank.

* * *

The next thing she knew, she was lying on her back and Yukimura was leaning over her, murmuring something about six games to four.

"The Pinnacle of Perfection," he remarked. "Well done, Ryo-chan."

"Mada mada dane," she smirked.

"Let's get back to the house. It looks like it's going to rain," he said.

* * *

They were in Yukimura's bedroom, which was originally the basement. Ryoma sat on his bed, looking around.

"You must have been pretty good," she said as she caught sight of several basketball trophies on his shelves and signed balls and sneakers.

He followed her gaze. "I used to be good, but all the balls and shoes are Cancer Perks. One day, I was wondering why I was tossing a spherical object through a hoop repeatedly, and I figured it was like when little kids put a peg through a loop over and over again. Basketball was basically a more athletic version of that."

"I see." She said, nodding.

"But that's enough about me. Why don't you tell me your story?"

Hadn't she already told him? "I already told you. I was diagnosed at thirteen-"

"No, not your cancer story. _Your story._ Your hobbies, what you like, your weird fetishes etc." He cut her off mid-sentence.

"Um," she hesitated. It had been a long time since a stranger had paid so much attention to her. It was almost flattering.

"Well, I would rank my cat Karupin, grape Ponta and defeating Yukimura Seiichi in tennis as my three most favorite things." She smirked at him.

"Mm hmmm. Are you an only child?" He asked.

She thought about this for a moment. "Yes, unless you count my adopted older brother who's rarely at home as a sibling. What about you?" Ryoma then realized it was probably the longest conversation she had had with a stranger. Or was he still a stranger to her?

"I've got two stepbrothers but they're like – DAD, HOW OLD ARE GENICHIROU AND RENJI?"

"Twenty-eight!"

"Yeah, so they're like twenty-eight and one's married to a business woman and the other's married to some professor."

Yukimura leaned over and grabbed a book from his shelf. "What's your favorite book?" he asked Ryoma.

"My favorite book is probably _An Imperial Affection_." Ryoma replied after some hesitation. She felt uncertain about sharing her favorite book, like she had just given away a part of her soul. "It's written by Tokugawa Kazuya." He was one of the authors she really liked because he was the only other person who (a) understood what dying was like and (b) hadn't died.

"Does it have zombies?" he asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

She shook her head.

"Storm troopers?"

"It's not that type of book."

"Well, I, Yukimura Seiichi, have decided that I will read this book with its boring title and no zombies or storm troopers." His voice had a tinge of disappointment and for some reason, Ryoma felt guilty, like she had failed to meet his standards.

He grabbed a pen and scribbled something in the book he had just taken from the shelf. "All I ask from you is that you read this book about my favorite video game."

She took it and looked at the title, amused. "_Counter Insurgence_? Sounds interesting – I'll give you a call after I finish reading it."

"You have my phone number?" He asked innocently. Ryoma was not fooled.

"I strongly suspect that you wrote it in the book, Yukimura."

He broke into an actual genuine smile. It was so adorable and childish that Ryoma responded with a smile of her own.

"And you say that we don't know each other well, Ryo-chan."

"Don't call me that!"

* * *

reviews, please?


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